Oggi, domani, ieri

English has one word, time, for two different ideas. Italian splits them, and the split is the first thing to learn in this session.

Tempo and volta

tempo is time as a quantity: how much of it you have, how long something takes, the time that passes. Non ho tempo is "I have no time". It is also the word for the weather, which is less odd than it looks: both are the conditions you live through.

volta is time as an occasion, the thing you count. Una volta is once, due volte is twice, la prima volta is the first time. An English speaker who says la prima tempo has picked the wrong idea, not merely the wrong word, and an Italian will hear it immediately.

The units

anno is year, mese is month, settimana is week and giorno is day. minuto is a minute, and momento and attimo are both a moment. Un attimo is what an Italian says when they mean "hang on", and it is used far more often than its literal meaning would suggest.

giornata is the odd one. It is also day, but day as a stretch of time that is lived through rather than a date on a calendar. Buona giornata wishes someone a good day ahead; che giornata! is what you say when it has been a long one. sera and serata work the same way, and so do mattina and mattinata when you meet them later.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

ieri is yesterday, oggi is today and domani is tomorrow. sera is evening and notte is night, and Italian glues them to questa to make compounds: stasera is this evening, from questa sera. stanotte and stamattina follow the same pattern.

presto is early, or soon, and tardi is late. A presto means see you soon; è tardi means it is late. Neither is about speed, which is where English speakers go wrong with presto: it is the musical term for fast, but in conversation it means early or soon.

The thing to take away: before you reach for "time", decide whether you mean an amount or an occasion. tempo for one, volta for the other, and they never stand in for each other.